Nonlocal spin transport based on a half-metallic ferromagnet

Physical Review Materials, vol. 7

Abstract

We study the spin injection from the ferromagnetic metallic oxide ${\mathrm{La}}_{0.7}{\mathrm{Sr}}_{0.3}{\mathrm{MnO}}_{3}$ (LSMO) into the normal metal Ag. LSMO is a highly resistive metallic oxide, but also fully spin polarized and therefore holds promise of generating highly polarized spin currents. Because of the high resistivity of the ferromagnet, and the lower resistivity of the normal metal, no conductivity mismatch issues are expected, as we demonstrate with model calculations. Our measurements unambiguously show spin-coherent injection and detection. LSMO appears to be a useful material for spin injection, but we also find the presence of an intrinsic tunnel barrier and a lower-than-expected degree of spin polarization, indicating a spin-active interface.

Authors 4

1. Junxiang Yao corresponding Aachen Huygens-Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Huygens-Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory, Leiden Institute of Physics, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9504, 2300 RA Leiden, Netherlands

2. Prateek Kumar Aachen Huygens-Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Huygens-Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory, Leiden Institute of Physics, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9504, 2300 RA Leiden, Netherlands

3. Mariona Cabero-Piris

   Universidad Complutense de Madrid

   Affiliation as printed

   ICTS - Centro Nacional de Microscopía Electrónica, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain

4. J. Aarts Aachen Huygens-Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Huygens-Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory, Leiden Institute of Physics, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9504, 2300 RA Leiden, Netherlands